This Cherry and Almond Danish Flaky is a puff pastry filled with homemade Cherry Filling on top of tangy cream cheese sprinkled with crunchy Almonds. Serve it for breakfast, snack or even for dessert. You cannot get wrong with this. A breakfast so good for something so easy to make. Sign me up please!

I love puff pastry beyond words. This pastry is probably one of the most versatile pastry that you can keep in your freezer and it will save you big time when in need of an emergency dessert or even dinner. I used puff pastry in so many ways, both for sweet and savory dessert and dish. I think of a lot of desserts when I think of puff pastry, but danish is so far one that always comes to be on my top list. Danish are so easy to make and they never fail to impress kids and adults alike. They are so versatile, you can easily change the filling to whatever is in season. You can use fresh of frozen fruits, jam, or a combination of both.

Like Mango, Strawberry and Peach, fresh Cherry had a very short season in Vancouver. We get it enjoy it probably for 2 months, and then it is done. Whenever I start seeing Cherry in the market, I immediately grab the opportunity to enjoy them fresh or in my baked goodies. Apart from Cherry 🍒 Filling and Cherry Jam, Cherry Danish is one of my favorite way to use Cherry. I love the sweet and tart taste when made into jam, and even more when nestled in tangy cream cheese on top of buttery puff pastry. It is one of my quick breakfast pastry go to whenever I am looking for ways to use Cherry.

There’s several ways you can present it in terms of how you shape the puff pastry. When it comes to Danish, I often go for the one which gives more space to accommodate more cream cheese and fruit filling. So far, this is the 3rd Danish that I made and all 3 are quite easy and simple. For me making Danish shouldn’t be complicated. Just puff pastry, cream cheese and fruit filling as the main 3 ingredients and all the rest as just extra, like nuts, dried fruits, icing sugar and sugar glaze.

What are the Ingredients for Cherry and Almond Danish?

• Puff Pastry – I prefer to use the store-bought to make the process easier. Store bought puff pastry are already rolled and the thickness is even. But by all means, use a homemade puff pastry if you feel like it.
• Cream Cheese – to balance the sweetness of the Cherry Filling and to add creamy tangy taste. You can use cream cheese Spread or the one in the box will both work. I find the spreadable easier to use an requires less time to soften
• Cherry Filling – I make my own Cherry filling and I have the video for this one. It is so easy to make it and a great way to use fresh or frozen Cherry. You can also substitute it with any other fruit jam. I left some suggestions below.
• Icing Sugar – this is for just for dusting the top, makes good presentation and adds a little sweetness. Alternatively, you can also use sugar glaze to drizzle on top. Sugar glaze is simply the combination of icing sugar and water.
• Toasted Almonds – for added crunch. You can substitute it with Walnut,Pecan or Hazelnut

How to Make Cherry and Almond Danish

Making a homemade Cherry Danish is not as difficult as it looks like. Here is a quick run down on how to do it, you can find the detailed instruction below.

Two things that can make the process of making this easier is if you use a store-bought puff pastry. It will save you a lot of time from making it, rolling it and making sure that it has the right thickness. The second one is making the fruit filling in advance. I used my homemade Cherry filling but any fruit filling will work great too. Once you have this 2 ready, making this on the day that you want to serve it will be such a breeze.

• Make the Puff Pastry – You can use Homemade or store-bought. Just in case you want to make one, make it at least a day ahead so that you do not feel rush. I personally recommend store-bought for this recipe as it makes the process a lot easier.
• Make the Cherry Filling – Again, I recommend making this a day in advance, not only that it will make the process faster when you make the Danish but it will also give the Cherry filling time to thicken. Alternatively, you can also use store-bought jam or any homemade jam.
• Soften the Cream Cheese Filling – There is nothing to do here, you just take it out of the refrigerator to soften at room temperature. I prefer not to add any sugar and egg just to keep it simple and easy. Besides, it will tone down the sweetness as the fruit filling is already sweet, or the jam if that is what you are using. I like using the spreadable (the one in a tub) but the one in the box will work too. It will take longer to bring it to room temperature though. Take out the cream cheese at least 30 minutes before using.
• Make the Danish – This is the most that you need to do the day that you want to make it. Basically you have to cut the puff pastry in 4 portions. Run a knife and make a border on the edge of the puff pastry. Once you have this ready, spoon the cream cheese and Cherry filling (or any filling you prefer). Chill the pastry in the freezer at least 15 minutes or however long it takes for it to be easy to lift and transfer in the baking pan. Puff pastry soften so quick so try to work as quickly as possible. Once it gets soft, it is quite challenging to lift and transfer in the baking try. This is another reason why freezing it for few minutes help, plus Puff pastry needs to be cold all the time for it to bake nice and puffy. Then bake at pre-heated 400F oven.
• Toasted Almonds – this is totally optional but if you have them, use it. The additional crunch makes a huge difference
• Dust top with Icing Sugar – For a little bit more sweetness and nice presentation, dust some icing sugar on top before serving

How To Make Cherry Filling

I have a simple Cherry Filling recipe, this is what I used for this recipe. You can use any fruit jam if you do not feel like Cherry. Making a fruit filling is quite simple, simply cook the Cherry l in sugar and simmer until reduced. Click the recipe HERE

The steps seems quite long, but really it’s not difficult at all. You can replace Cherry Filling with Mango, Peach, Strawberry, Apple, Pineapple or Blueberry filling, I’ll leave below the link for the recipes.

Alternative Filling Options:

If you do not feel like Cherry, then substitute it with any other fruit filling, jam or reduced fruit sauces. I have quite a few selections in my blog, give them a try.

• Small Batch Strawberry Chia Seed Jam (No Refined Sugar Added)
• Small Batch Blueberry Jam (No Refined Sugar Added)
• 5 Easy Homemade Pie Filling
• Small Batch Homemade Cherry Sauce
• Small Batch Peach Pie Filling
• Small Batch Fresh Blueberry Sauce
• Homemade Pineapple Filling – Quick & Easy!
• Peach Pie Filling
• 3 Ingredients Mango Filling

Alternative to Cream Cheese

I find that cream cheese is the easiest option to use as you can buy it ready to use. But another option is Custard Pastry Cream

[VIDEO] Small Batch Pastry Cream – 3 Flavors

Best Serve the Same Day

Puff Pastry desserts are best serve the day they are made. This gives you a chance to enjoy the flaky crunchy pastry right off the oven. But if you cannot finish it, keep it refrigerated and re-heat at 300F for 15 minutes before serving. It will not be as good as the day it was made, but it will somehow bring the crunch back.

Ingredients:

• 1 Roll Puff Pastry
• 8 tablespoon Cream Cheese – softened
• 8 tablespoon Cherry Filling (Watch the VIDEO HERE)
• 4 teaspoon chopped toasted Almonds

Instructions:

1. Make the Cherry Filling – Get the Full recipe HERE. Make the filling at least 1 day ahead and store it in the refrigerator. Once ready to use, remove the excess juice to avoid the puff pastry from getting soggy.
2. Puff Pastry – If you are making your own, make it in advance to make the process faster and easier. The store-bought puff pastry is my go to as it is saves a lot of work. Use a rolling pin to stretch the puff pastry to a 10 x 10 size then cut into 4 squares. Work as fast as you can while the puff pastry is still cold. If you want to make your own puff pastry, get the full recipe HERE
3. Drain Excess Juice from Fruit Filling: Transfer the Cherry filling in a strainer and leave it for about 30 minutes to allow the extra juice to drip. Use a spoon to mix and stir to speed up the process. Removing extra juice helps lessen the chance of the pastry to be soggy.
4. Soften the Cream Cheese Filling – There’s really nothing that you need to do here as we are using the cream cheese as is. Unless you want to make it sweeter, you can add about 1 tbsp sugar. If you do this, take it out of the fridge to soften it a bit, this makes the mixing easily. I used spreadable cream cheese so it is softer even if use staright frm the refrigerator. If using cream cheese in a box, take the cream cheese out 30 minutes earlier before using it.
5. Add the Cream Cheese and Cherry Filling – Spread 2 tbsp of cream cheese in the center of each piece of puff pastry then add 2 tbsp of Cherry Filling on top. You can go as less as 1 tbsp cream cheese and 1 tbsp Cherry Filling. If you have fresh Cherry on hand, you can also add some for a nice smooth and chunky texture. Sprinkle toasted Almonds on top.
6. Chill – Chill the Cherry Danish in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before baking.
7. Bake– Brush the side with eggwash (1 beaten egg + 1 teaspoon water). Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until puff-up.
8. Dust top with Icing Sugar (optional) – Dust top with icing sugar before serving.

Makes 4 pieces

Other Fall Favorites:

• Cinnamon Glazed Apple Turnover
• Apple Hand Pie
• Apple Danish
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• 2 Ingredients Nutella Puff Pastry Croissant
• Bite Size Pigs in a Blanket
• Garlic and Parmesan Puff Pastry Bites
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• Mango and Cream Danish
• Peaches and Cream Danish
• [VIDEO] Cherry Almond Danish

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